Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English late 14th-century chivalric romance in alliterative verse. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known A
First page of the only surviving manuscript, c. 14th century
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (from original manuscript, artist unknown)
The Shrine of St Erkenwald: the Saxon prince, bishop and saint is thought by some to have inspired the poet who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to write another eponymous poem.
The legendary Irish figure Cúchulainn faced a trial similar to Gawain's (Cúchulain Slays the Hound of Culain by Stephen Reid, 1904).
Beheading game
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The beheading game is a literary trope found in Irish mythology and medieval chivalric romance. The trope consists of a stranger who arrives at a royal court and challenges a hero to an exchange of bl
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
…is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of folk motifs: the beheading game and the exchange of winnings. Written in stanzas of alliterative verse, each of which ends in a rhyming bob and wheel, it draws on Welsh, Irish, and…
In the Fled Bricrenn, Cú Chulainn (pictured) takes part in a beheading game to earn the Champion's Portion.
Chrétien de Troyes was the first to incorporate the beheading game into the Matter of Britain.
By taking the magic girdle from Lady Bertilak, Gawain fails to uphold the virtues of Camelot.